Misled Love
by Rolyn
Summary: ML-verse Spin-off. The Dragonite Girls and Flygon boys are all grown up with kids of their own so now they will know exactly how their parents felt when this upcoming generation of Untouchables hit the ground running with the intentions of outdoing their parents. With the jumbled mess of personalities and scheming, that shouldn't be much of a problem. AU
1. Hitched

_It's that time guys. I realized after ML was finished…I had less of a life than I thought. I couldn't get a job because I'll just have to quit in a months-time anyways to work at camp. My hobby was writing and I have reached a bit of a road block in my original story. I have friends…well that's a lie. Basically I have no life…nothing. Well I kind of do…but yea. Anyways, I made a lot of changes since the little preview I had of this story in Misconstrued Love. Some names have been changed, some situations have been changed, but for the most part the brief look at personalities will be pretty much the same. I'll warn you now I may go a little crazy with this story. I believe in the future…everything gets a little crazier so, ya know. Be prepared. I hope you enjoy this first chapter of…_

_Misled Love_

_~Rolyn~_

* * *

_Chapter One: Hitched_

* * *

"Married?"

"It's not that big of a deal, Xander." Tevin sighed with a careless shrug of his shoulders. He had been peacefully packing for their long vacation to the Serenity Islands when the other boy had made his appearance, oddly distraught over a matter that barely concerned him. He cursed Jo for being out with Corinne and Crista shopping for bathing suits, but she probably wasn't faring any better since those two put together were a nightmare he didn't even want to think about. Yup, he'd prefer Xander's whining over Corinne and Crista's antics any day.

"It's a huge deal," Xander argued. "Getting hitched means no more guy time, no more checking out dames,"

"I really wish you didn't call girls, dames." Tevin muttered under his breath as he folded and rolled a pair of board shorts before tucking them into a hunter green suitcase. His words were ignored as Xander continued.

"No more variety…just one chick _all_ the time." he hissed while gripping the arm rests to the desk chair he had gotten himself comfortable in. The brunet stared at the wall opposite to him blankly as his friend's words went through one ear and out the other. Don't get the eldest Hayden wrong, he loved Xander – he loved the guy like the brother he always wanted but never had because his parents managed to come up with the she-devil known as his little sister, but sometimes…_sometimes_ Xander could be the most annoying, dogmatic prick Tevin had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

"I let you hang out with Jo, why?" Tevin sighed while slowly cocking his head to the side. Honestly, any good older brother would keep a guy like Xander at least a hundred yards away from their younger female sibling at all times.

"Because, if I wanted to get with your sister, it would have already happened," Xander smirked and Tevin's ocean green eyes darkened as they narrowed into the infamous Hayden glare. The younger of the two (by only three months – Xander always emphasized that) chuckled while waving off the look. "Don't give me that look. Jo is like a sister to me; besides she's too much crazy for this guy to handle on anything more than a platonic level."

"Why am I still not appeased?" Tevin breathed, letting his gaze drift skywards for guidance briefly before he returned to packing. He still had quite a bit to do since he waited until the very last minute to do it. His mother had been reminding him for the last week, but being the slacker he was when in the comfort of his own home, Tevin had saved the task for the day before they were scheduled to leave for their trip. Obviously May wasn't pleased with her son's procrastination, but what could she do. Half the boy's genes came from Drew so it was of no surprise to her that he was flippant about…everything.

"I still can't believe Garrett is getting married…" Xander murmured as he spun slowly in the revolving desk chair. "I never saw it coming. I was totally blindsided."

"He's been dating Jessica since High School and you say you were blindsided." Tevin deadpanned.

"Yea, well, he was always so chill about their relationship I didn't think…" Xander trailed off with a careless shrug of his shoulders. Tevin stared at him for a moment through slit eyes and with his mouth hanging open slightly before shaking his head in disbelief and returning to packing. Maybe if he ignored Xander long enough, the guy would get bored and leave.

"He'll probably be with Jessica all summer…" Xander sighed after minutes of silence.

Tevin cringed. "Dude," he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation. "Does it really matter? You are whining like a girl and you are grating on my last nerve which is a feat in itself because I'm usually the annoying one."

Xander gave a lopsided smile. "Yea, you are."

Tevin glared. "I'm sure if girls saw the way you complain like a little Jigglypuff, they wouldn't even give you a second thought." he pointed out.

"Nah, I'm one way with you and then another with the dames." Tevin cringed when he used the term 'dames' yet again. "Ya know there is a system to the art of getting girls, my friend. It takes years of training coupled with perfect looks like my own for it to work out flawlessly, but sometimes in the end, it's a gift. Either ya have it, or ya don't."

"Yea, I'm really uncomfortable with you being around my sister…or any girl I know for that matter. The rest of them are fair game because they're asking for it if they actually fall for the crap you pull." Tevin laughed sarcastically while crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head.

Xander perked a brow. "Speaking of girls you know…what's up with that cousin of yours? I forget her name. I tried looking her up on the internet, but your Aunt and Uncle are very good at keeping their kids out of the media." he grumbled.

"Stay the hell away from Mickey." Tevin said quickly. "I don't even think Cal or Misha will even let you get close enough to try." he added with a wry smile. The brief image of Xander getting his rear end handed to him by the two aforementioned boys flashed through his mind and turned that wry smile into a smirk. Maybe he shouldn't have warned Xander. He would have paid good money to see that fight.

"Yea, that Cal guy is your cousin too, right?"

"Yea,"

"I think Jo likes him…"

Tevin tensed. "What makes you say that?" he asked quickly as he turned away from Xander to look through his closet for a missing pair of flip flops.

"I dunno, she mentioned him like a week ago and her face was as red as a Pansear's behind and she threatened to kill me if I didn't drop it when I teased her about it." Xander explained as he slumped in the desk chair. "Isn't it kind of weird…for someone to like their cousin in that way, I mean."

"Technically he is only our cousin by name. Aunt Rolyn isn't even blood related to my dad so Mickey is our cousin by namesake as well. Calum is adopted so he isn't even blood related to her or my Aunt and Uncle." Tevin clarified. "Even if Jo _did_ liked Cal, it wouldn't be incest or anything…" he finalized.

"She does like him."

"I doubt it."

* * *

"Married!?"

Jo cringed at the too-high-to-be-normal pitch the pair had managed to reach. When Corinne and Crista were put together, anything was possible - including busting someone's ear drums just by talking. Jo loved the twins, they were the only girl friends she had other than Mickey, but with Mickey living regions away if she wanted actual contact with females, she looked towards the Miller twins.

They were an eccentric pair with a dash of crazy mixed in, but not as crazy as Jo – she would never let anyone forget that. Unlike your usual pair of identical twins that wanted their individuality and separated themselves from each other the older they got, Corinne and Crista did the opposite. From the time they started walking until now, they have done everything as a pair. They dressed the same, had the same hobbies and interests and sometimes even spoke at the same time, seemingly always knowing what the other said (twin telepathy, they called it).

Right now they were currently dressed in matching purple overalls that cut off mid-thigh with florescent pink tank tops underneath. The only difference between them at the moment was their hair. Corinne had her ponytail pulled to the left side while Crista had hers on the right. For Jo, who didn't pay much attention to such minor detail, mistaking one for the other and complaining about it every time was a given. It was hard; there were no distinguishing features to separate them. They had the same royal purple eyes and same dark hair with the purple undertones. If there was anything on their physical person besides their hair that distinguished one from the other, it wasn't visible.

"Oh, I knew they were going to get married!" Crista gushed as she clasped her hands together. "I had a feeling it was going to happen…either that or they were going to drive off a cliff together." she mused. Jo's brow twitched.

"You know, I had the same feeling…except instead of driving off a cliff, they drove into the ocean." Corinne stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she placed her hands on her hips. Jo's eyes widened. Was it not mentioned that Corinne and Crista get strange premonitions? They called it their sixth sense. Jo called it an a-class example of utter mental instability. "Marriage is much better than dying."

"Much better." Crista agreed.

"Jessica and Garrett were made for one another." Corinne said.

"They were destined." Crista added.

"It was fate."

"Written in the stars."

"Predetermined."

"Okay!" Jo screeched throwing her hands in the air. Corinne and Crista took a simultaneous step back, away from the platinum blonde while they gave her identical weird looks. "I get it…they were meant to be. Don't over exaggerate." she hissed as she turned her attention to the beach cover up dresses they had been flittering through.

"Over exaggerating is our thing." the twins chorused flatly. Jo shrugged, letting them have that one. They were kind of known for overstressing. They hung out with their Aunt Dawn on the regular. It was of no surprise that they adopted their Aunt's impractical need to overstate just about everything.

"I bet the wedding will be all adorable and simple. Jessica is sweet like that so that's probably what she'll want." Corinne sighed dreamily as she pulled a pair of crocheted shorts of the rack.

"No, it'll be elegant and elaborate like Garrett and Aunt Marina. I think Uncle Jim will go for the simple stuff though." Crista corrected with a nod. Corinne merely shrugged. They would probably wait for that feeling to come along before they confirmed anything, Jo mused.

Honestly, she didn't know why she brought up Garrett's engagement to his high school sweetheart in the first place. She was never one for romance, so engagement announcements didn't really excite her. She had seen it coming, what with how perfectly perfect Garrett and Jessica were together or just how adorable they were with one another. It made the blonde sick. Anything related to romance in general made her stomach turn and it wasn't because she was bitter over the fact that no one had ever even thought about her in that way. No, Joanne Hayden was not a bitter girl…spiteful sometimes, but bitter, never…or so she liked to make herself believe.

Boys have approached her – why wouldn't they? She was Joanne Hayden, daughter of two of the most elite coordinators this side of the tri-state regions; not to mention she was as adorable as her mother with hints of her father's charming features. She was a gorgeous girl. It was only a plus she was the richest sixteen year old in Hoenn all thanks to dear old Grandpa. It was the lure of money and beauty that brought the boys to her yard – not milkshakes, but she didn't exactly want someone who liked her based upon such fleeting things. One day she'd get wrinkly and weird looking and the money would run out.

The only guy who treated her like a person – the only one who actually loved her for who she was - a psychotic maniac with a horrid attitude - was her dear darling cousin…well Xander loved her too because she'd stab him in the neck if he didn't, but it was just different with Cal. Was it because he was sweet with her or was it because he made her smile effortlessly without a crude, sexist joke being involved; Jo didn't know. All she knew was that Calum Alvarez held a special place in her heart. This is nothing she'd admit out loud because then she'd have to admit to the twist in her stomach at the mention of his name or the undeniable excitement that flickered across her features at the prospect of seeing him.

"Earth to Joanne," Corinne and Crista sang into each of the blonde's ears. Jo cringed before scrambling away from the pair. The dark-haired twins giggled at her reaction and Jo pouted childishly. "What were you thinking about?" they asked.

"Did I have my thinking face on?" Jo groaned.

"Mmhmm." they hummed as they crossed their arms over their chests in perfect sync. Jo often wondered if they practiced at home.

"So," Crista began.

"Spill." Corinne finished for her.

"I was just thinking about how awesome the Serenity Islands are going to be with all of us there." Jo easily lied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I know my parents are mainly doing this as their…Untouchables reunion they do every year, but we never hang out all-together…I mean you guys, me, Cal, Misha, Mickey, Tevin and now Xander too. For once, it'll be about us too."

"Oh yea!" Corinne squealed.

"I've been looking forward to this all year." Crista gushed.

"You were only looking forward to seeing _Misha_." Corinne sang the boy's name and Crista gasped loudly, her body actually going up with the large intake of air.

"How'd you know!?"

"Twin telepathy!"

"That and you have pictures of him in your diary," Jo added. "Not that I've read your diary lately…I just have a feeling that you do." she fibbed, using the twins' excuse. Jo made it a point to read Crista's diary any chance she had. She usually went over to the Miller home at least once a week to read the updates. The younger twin had some interesting things going on in that pretty little head of hers; Jo would give her that.

"Well I may have a little crush on him…" Crista murmured as her cheeks flushed pink. "Nothing major though! I barely see him and we don't talk often so it's not like I'm going off of anything."

"Well this summer can be your chance!" Jo said excitedly as she shuffled up to Crista. The younger twin had wide purple eyes as Jo took her by the shoulders and stared her right in the eye. "Do what you gotta do to bag that boy. Screw the whole long distance issue. If you like him, go for it!"

"Jo's enthusiasm has me convinced." Corinne inserted. "Do it Crista! All the boys here in Hoenn are weirdoes anyways."

"Do it." Jo hissed.

"Do it." Corinne mimicked.

The leaned in close to Crista now speaking in unison, "Do it, do it, do it, do it, do…"

"Okay!" Crista screeched cutting the pair off. The cashier in the center of the store looked over the racks at the trio with a brow perked before returning to ringing up a customer. Crista turned a pretty shade of red, obviously embarrassed because of her outburst. "Okay…I'll see what happens, but it could flop. I don't even know if he even gives me a second thought…"

"Oh Crista, there will never be a way to know if he likes you until you put yourself out there." Corinne said encouragingly as she wrapped an arm around her twin's shoulders.

"Well besides the fact that you're one crayon short of a complete box, what's not to like?" Jo questioned with a lopsided smile.

"Well isn't the pot calling the kettle black." Crista shot back before pursing her lips into a pout.

"This summer, my little sister is going to get a boyfriend!" Corinne giggled while clapping her hands excitedly. "I have a feeling that it'll work out in your favor and me and Jo will be there to help you seven hundred percent of the way."

"More like I'll help ten percent and Corinne will take care of the other six hundred and ninety percent." Jo corrected with a cheeky grin.

* * *

"Married?"

"About time…" Misha grumbled as he nonchalantly played with the rope bracelets around his wrist. Calum, who had been sitting next to him nodded. Garrett and Jessica had been dating for like six years now. If they weren't sure about getting married at this point, then there was something a little wrong with the relationship. All in all, Calum was happy for the older boy. Jessica was a sweet girl. He only met her once, but she hadn't given him any reason to dislike her in that one meeting.

"Dad thought it was because Jessica was pregnant," Mickey said as she sat on her brother's bed. The older of the Alvarez siblings gave the girl a dirty look, silently asking why she had invited herself to relax in his room. "Mom punched him in the face and called him a jerk…I think he's sleeping in a guest room tonight."

"How often do your parents fight?" Misha questioned. He knew a better question would be how often his Aunt and Uncle _not_ get into it because it seemed like they went at it constantly.

"Mom and Dad love each other. They show that love through anger and violence." Cal explained vaguely with a careless wave of his hand. "It's best not to question it. I'm sure Aunt Pat and Uncle Ian have their relationship quirks."

"I don't like to think about my parents and their relationship quirks." Misha deadpanned.

"I wonder if Garrett is going to bring Jessica to Amy Isle with him." Mickey inserted, not one to be ignored. Cal perked a brow at her and she perked one right back. He knew his sister didn't have any close friends to talk to one on one here in Jewel, but that didn't mean she had to sit in when he had his friends over, granted Misha was more family than friend.

"Most likely…" Misha breathed. "Unless she had prior engagements, they'll probably want to stick together since the whole 'just got engaged' thing will have them over the moon in love and excited…even though I am sure it is physically impossible for Garrett to get excited."

"You're right…" Mickey agreed. "It'll be good to see Jessica again. Last Untouchables reunion we were only in Hoenn for a week. Now we have the whole summer with everybody." Mickey smiled brightly at the idea of seeing Jo. She missed her cousin dearly, along with Corinne and Crista. It would be nice to have some girls to talk to.

Despite being the daughter of a famous fashion mogul and a world renowned pokemon master, making friends didn't come easy to either of the Alvarez children. In reality the pair was picked on constantly at school. For Mickey, it was her choice in clothes. She was constantly in jeans and t-shirts and that didn't say much for her since she had a fashion designer for a mom. For Calum, it was the fact that he wasn't even a real Alvarez (although his parents told him otherwise constantly). He loved his mother and father unconditionally, but he never went a day without being reminded that he was an orphan…just an orphan who got unbearably lucky.

Calum and Mickey both had Misha, their God brother, but it was of no surprise to anyone that Calum and Misha stuck together more closely. They were both boys. It was just natural. It was because of this that Mickey found her daily fix of female interaction with helping her mother or Aunt at work. Today Aunt Pat was in Sinnoh and her mother was with her so Mickey found herself being the awkward third wheel to Calum and Misha's twosome.

"Did you talk to Jo today?" Calum inquired his little sister.

Mickey sighed. "Yea, but she had to cut the conversation short because she went shopping with Corinne and Crista. She says 'hi' by the way and she can't wait to see you…" Mickey said offhandedly. Calum swallowed nervously at his sister's words and Misha perked a brow. It took Mickey all of seven seconds to figure out what she had said and what it might have insinuated. "Well she can't wait to see all of us. She mentioned seeing you too Misha." she added quickly in hopes of covering up her little blunder.

"Course," Misha murmured.

"No one looks forward to these reunions more than Jo," Calum found himself smiling as he spoke. "She was messaging me nonstop last night about all the things we should do together." he laughed.

"Aw, you guys text late into the night?" Misha cooed as a sly smile came to his pink lips. Calum felt his cheeks burn at what his God brother was implying and Mickey played dumb as she looked away. She knew how Jo felt and she knew how Cal felt even if neither of them vocally fessed up and she couldn't be happier if the two of them admitted to one another how they felt, but the looming judgment of cousin's having anything other than a platonic relationship rested on both their shoulders. She didn't know why since they weren't even blood related, but it was seemingly the only hurdle between them and happiness, or so Mickey thought.

"They're family Misha," Mickey said firmly. "Cut it out."

"Yea, but they're not blood related and Jo is kinda cute." Misha observed as his sly smile turned wicked. "Hell, I'd go for it…"

"Don't even think about it." Cal hissed at him.

"Oh, is that envy I see shining in those big green eyes?" Misha gasped over dramatically. "I think the one who should really be jealous is me; I feel like you're cheating on me, Cal." He pouted his lips and Mickey made a noise of disgust while rolling his eyes.

"Just drop it…" Cal grumbled. "Besides, I could never cheat on you." He added while throwing in a wink. Mickey groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes. She wouldn't have minded this weird relationship they had if they weren't her brothers…well brother and God brother.

"And you wonder why people think you two are dating." Mickey muttered more to herself than the two boys.

"We're not dating." Cal reaffirmed.

"Yea, we're already married." Misha added with a cheeky grin.

"No, you're stupid, both of you; you're both stupid little weirdoes." Mickey said with a sarcastic smile.

"She's jealous." Cal murmured.

"So jealous." Misha agreed with a nod.

"Freaks." The sixteen year old grumbled as she stood from her brother's bed and trudged out the room. She'd rather be bored in her own room alone than listen to them go on. She should have known better than to seek them out for company, but she had been admittedly desperate for human contact.

"Nice way of getting her to leave." Cal chuckled.

"That was too easy." Misha snickered.

* * *

_I was a hundred words away from my four thousand word quota that I have for all my ML story chapters. I feel ashamed, but whatever. I was thinking about how I've been kind of stumped in terms of writing, but I never get stagnant when it comes to anything related to ML. This is getting my creative juices flowing and hopefully I will be able to bang out something where my original work is concerned. I've been thinking about it all night. It's currently four in the morning. I have to get up early too. I guess I just won't go to sleep tonight. Oh well. I hope you all liked this chapter and didn't get too confused about anything concerning ages and appearances. If so, I'll make a note on my fan-page. For now, I'll give you ages._

_Tevin Hayden – Eighteen  
Joanne "Jo" Hayden – Sixteen going on Seventeen (July 23__rd__)  
Alexander "Xander" Silverman – Seventeen  
Corinne Miller – Seventeen  
Crista Miller – Seventeen  
Mickayla "Mickey" Alvarez – Sixteen  
Calum "Cal" Alvarez – Eighteen  
Misha Grey – Seventeen  
Garrett Talon – Twenty Three_

_Feedback would be very much appreciated._

_~Rolyn~  
_


	2. Onset

_Wow I have been having dreams about this story and about other stuff, but that's not important. Recently I've been doing a lot of thinking and stuff, trying to get my priorities straight and whatnot. I'll admit it's been a little bit of a struggle. I'm still in the process of finding myself, but I wouldn't have gotten thus far if I didn't have this outlet. Yes, I have my original works, but keeping up here helps me improve and offers me the opportunity to be among others who share the same interests as me and show support. Hopefully I get myself together sooner rather than later. My mind has just been running rampant for way too long. I hope that doesn't hinder me here and I also hope you enjoy this next chapter._

_~Rolyn~_

* * *

_Chapter Two: Onset_

* * *

There was no resisting the malicious smirk that tugged at the corner of Jo's mouth as she watched him suffer. The youngest Hayden had a thing for watching those she loved the most struggle; call her wicked, heartless and vindictive (it was nothing she hasn't heard before), but it just tickled her pink to be the spectator of her friend's losing battle. Xander glanced at her out the corner of his eye briefly and growled low in his throat. He made the mental note to get her back for this later.

"Are ya payin' attention ta me?"

Xander turned those mixed hues back on the very pregnant woman in front of him – that very pregnant woman happened to be his dear mother, Annabelle Silverman. Knowing the southern belle, she demanded attention, especially when she was lecturing someone. She was a forceful woman by herself; add in the whole pregnancy hormone thing and you had one feisty woman on your hands. Xander knew that better than anyone, including his father.

"I'm listening…" he muttered. Annabelle eyed him, slowly crossing her arms over her chest. Yes, he was listening; he had been listening for the last two hours or so. From the moment he woke up that morning his mother had been chewing him out, reminding him of the proper etiquette he was to maintain for the entirety of his three month trip. In her words, she didn't raise 'no selfish ingrate with no idea when it came to manners.'

"Ah already told May that if ya so much as stepped a millimeter outta line, that she was ta call meh," Annabelle drawled in her accent. Xander pursed his lips. "Ah will drag your narrow behind back ta Hoenn so quick that ya won't even know what happened if ya forget ya upbringing."

"Yes, Ma…" Xander murmured, bowing his head.

"Ya'll should be grateful Ah'm even allowin' ya on this trip. Ah don't care if you're legally an adult or not. Till ya'll are married, ya'll will listen ta me and ya father – get it?" Annabelle went on, her hazel eyes narrowing into judging slits. Her little Alexander had never done anything towards defying her word before, but, just as a precaution, she'd strike some fear into him to keep him in check. She knew he was old enough to handle himself and that he was as well behaved as well behaved got (only when her eyes were watching, but he'd never let her know that), but he was a representation of Dex and herself. Take them out of the equation and she wasn't too sure how well they would be represented.

"Anna,"

Xander released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding as his father came up behind the eccentric woman and placed his hands on her shoulders. Dex was always his son's saving grace. His father was always on his side because Xander never gave him reason not to be, as far as he knew. He was the only person who could get Annabelle to relax.

"Leave the boy alone," Dex breathed as he began to message his wife's shoulders. Annabelle visibly relaxed and let her arms fall back to her sides. "He knows his right from wrong and he's all too aware of the consequences of his actions. You don't have to eat him alive."

Annabelle huffed indignantly before turning away from both her husband and her son. Dex smiled knowingly and Xander rolled his eyes. Both of them were used to the pregnant woman's behavior, but they certainly saw and handled it differently.

"Can I go?" Xander grumbled, perking a brow.

Dex shrugged before a clapping a hand down on his son's shoulder. "Sure, but let us say our goodbyes first."

"I thought mom going off was her goodbye." Xander said lowly.

"Ah heard that!" Annabelle squawked as she whipped around fast enough to give a normal person a bad case of whiplash. Fortunately, Annabelle Silverman was no normal person. "Smart mouth meh again boy and we'll see where ya'll are goin'." she threatened with a dangerous narrowing of her eyes.

"I'll miss you too Ma," Xander sighed as he reluctantly lifted his arms to wrap around his mother's shoulders. Annabelle huffed once again but she didn't pull away from the hug. In actuality, just as Xander started to pull away, she jerked him back into her while remaining wary of her baby bump. Xander chuckled under his breath as his mother buried her face in his neck, murmuring an 'I love you', before pressing her lips to his cheek. "I'll see you in a couple of months."

Annabelle nodded, a small sad smile quirking the left corner of her mouth. With that, Xander took up his backpack (the rest of his luggage had been taken and loaded into their mode of transportation to the airport - one of two large vans), he nodded towards his father and Dex smiled brightly while nodding back. With one last, kind of awkward smile, Xander turned and went to go join Jo who was looking too pleased for his liking.

"Not a word." He growled.

"I didn't say anything!" Jo argued loudly as she put her hands up in mock innocence. Her growing grin gave her away though and Xander shoved her roughly in the shoulder. Luckily his mother was too busy conversing with Mrs. Hayden to notice, because if she had, he was sure he would have gotten a whole new lecture and maybe even a good butt whooping. "Have I ever told you how much I adore Ms. Annabelle?"

"What did I just say?"

"Fine, I'll be quiet."

Silence settled between the two best friends just as a very deep purple SUV pulled up into the Hayden wrap around driveway. The vehicle didn't even come to a complete stop before the twins came bounding out, arms interlocked and wearing the exact same florescent pink rompers with high pigtails. Jo smiled wryly and Xander groaned in distaste. It wasn't that he didn't like the twins because they were all friends…he just found them weird…which said a lot because he was called Jo – the weirdest girl in Hoenn – his best friend.

"_Vacation, all we ever wanted! Vacation, have to get away_!" The twins sang as the bounded over to the pair, leaving their father to unload the entire cars worth of luggage (at least seven bags per girl) all by himself. Their mother was there to help – and knowing Alex, help meant boss her husband around.

"Well, if it isn't the terrible twosome," Xander murmured.

"Well if it isn't…" Crista began with one brow cocked with attitude.

"The plague on all womankind." Corinne finished with a lopsided smile.

Xander gave them a sarcastic smile. "Still sour about me not wanting to have a threesome with you guys?" His sarcastic smile turned crooked as he sized the identical pair up quite blatantly. Jo laughed once behind closed lips.

The twins gasped dramatically, simultaneously. "As if!" They squawked.

"Corinne! Crista! What have I told you guys about talking like Dawn?" Alex called out to her two daughters as she turned away from overseeing her husband's unloading progress. The short woman had her hands firmly planted on her hips, pink eyes narrowed.

"Leave 'em be, Alex!"

A head of navy hair traipsed past the short purple haired mother of two and shot straights towards the twins. Corinne and Crista gasped once again, just as dramatically as before, but this time for an entirely different reason. Dawn squealed as she wrapped an arm around each of her nieces.

"And how are my two favorite girls in the entire world?" Dawn giggled as she pressed a kiss to each girl's cheek. "Corinne, I love what you've done with your hair and Crista, nice outfit." she looked from one girl to the next, speaking to the correct girl easily. Dawn was practically the only one who could tell the girls apart. Not even Alex could do so without careful thought.

"They have their hair and clothes done the same way." Xander murmured in Jo's ear. The blonde swatted at him, silently telling him that his comment hardly mattered when it came to Dawn Shinji. "I'm just saying…"

"I forbid my children from spending time with you, Pinky." Alex chided as she slid up next to Dawn just as the younger woman released the twins from her hug. "They dress like you, the talk like you; if their stuffed pokemon collection gets any bigger, I am going to have to move. You are turning them into mini Barbie dolls."

"Oh please," Dawn waved off her best friend's words. "The twins are fine. I say I've been a positive influence on them." she said proudly as she flipped navy hair over her shoulder.

"That's debatable." Alex grumbled.

"Dawn,"

The youngest out of all the Dragonite mothers perked up at the call of her name only to see Paul giving her a blank look from their parked car. Standing at his side was a pretty little thing with indigo braids, almond dark eyes and a stuffed Pikachu in her arms. She looked no more than seven. In Paul's arms, balanced on his hip was another child; a boy with the same colored hair as the girl and wide blue eyes. He was small enough to be around three years of age.

Knowing what Paul wanted, Dawn jogged over to him and took the toddler from his arms and rested him on her hip, much like he had done. She then took the little girl by the hand and guided her back over to where Dawn once was so that Paul could unload the luggage they had. Much like many other girls attending this trip, Dawn packed like she wasn't coming back so Aden moved to help him, engaging in idle chit chat with the more reclusive Flygon father.

"Say hi to your cousins, Penelope." Dawn said in her baby voice that she usually used with her children. The seven year old coddling the Pikachu plushy glanced up at Corinne and Crista. A beat passed before the young girl waved. "I would tell Jesse to say hi, but he's been cranky all morning and I'd rather not have my hair pulled again." The navy-haired girl giggled sheepishly.

"He's been taught well." Alex remarked with a lopsided smile.

"Who's corrupting who's children now?" Dawn chided.

* * *

"Marina, you are looking gorgeous as usual," Rolyn smiled fondly as she wrapped her arms around one of her oldest friends. The aqua-haired actress smile and pressed a friendly kiss to the other girl's cheek before pulling away. "I'm beginning to hate you for always looking so perfect."

"Look who's talking." The older woman chuckled as she took Rolyn's hand and spun the clothing designer in a circle. Rolyn giggled lightly as she stopped her circle with a pose. "Still snapping necks."

"Is it customary for woman to complement each other every time they get together?"

Marina looked over her shoulder at her son and gave him a pointed look. "Garrett," she said simply. The twenty two year old ignored the look his mother gave him and stepped past her. Rolyn smiled at the young man just as he took her hand, bowed slightly and pressed a tender kiss to her knuckles. Marina rolled her eyes but smiled wryly despite herself.

"Mrs. Alvarez," he greeted with a charming smile.

"Always so formal, this one," Rolyn chuckled as she pulled her hand away and ruffled Garrett's hair. The navy-haired young man made a face as he immediately reached up to fix his hair. "It's Aunt Ro, remember?"

"Of course." Garrett deadpanned.

"Where's that fiancé of yours everyone has been talking about? I don't think I got to know her as well as I'd like last time she came with you to visit." Rolyn said as she looked past both Garrett and Marina, in search for the young woman in question.

"She and Jimmy should be here later," Marina explained with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Garrett and I were already in Sinnoh since about last week, so of course we got here first." The eldest of the Dragonite mothers smiled and Rolyn returned it.

"Well, Mickayla and Calum should be around here somewhere. Last I heard of them, they were having a battle on the beach with Misha." Rolyn sighed as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Garrett, would you mind checking in on them?"

"No problem, Aunt Ro," he said with a charming smile before he moved past her, maneuvering through the summer home like it was his own. It wasn't the usual place for these Untouchable reunions, but he has been there often enough to know where everything was. He had gone to school in Sinnoh, much like his mother had so when he couldn't make it back to Hoenn, he was usually with his Aunt and Uncle here on Amy Isle or back in Diamond city in Jewel.

"Why don't I show you where you'll be staying? I put you and Jimmy up between Alex and Aden and Patou and Ian." Rolyn said with a smile as she gestured for Marina to come fully inside the villa.

"So you're telling me I won't be getting any sleep for the next three months." The older woman deadpanned as she crossed her arms under her chest. Rolyn snickered as she shut the door before nudging Marina on her shoulder.

"I don't think you need any more beauty rest, gorgeous." Rolyn said with a shake of her head.

"Well…" Marina trailed off, smiling lopsidedly while flipping aqua-colored tresses over her shoulder. "Where's that husband of yours? I'm a little ashamed to admit I've been looking forward to seeing Jewel's most handsome man of the decade."

"Don't mention that in front of him." Rolyn said flatly as she started walking through the foyer of the house. "It has taken me weeks to deflate that horrendous ego of his." she grumbled as she led Marina into the expansive kitchen of the house. Everything was chrome, granite and polished wood. It was a chefs dream kitchen…Marina wasn't surprised though, what with Jason's love to cook. There was a winding staircase that went upstairs and an entire wall was sliding glass doors that led out onto a wide deck that overlooked the private beach.

"That ego is just one of the things to love about Jason." Marina admitted as she pulled out a stool from the large kitchen island and perched herself delicately in a seat.

"I heard my name," A voice called down the winding stairs.

Marina beamed as she saw Jason bounding down the stairs, dressed professionally in a suit jacket and slacks like he had just gotten off of work. The green-eyed man grinned at her before saddling up next to her and pressing a kiss to her cheek, his own silent greeting to one of his oldest friends.

"He's like Beetlejuice; he appears at the call of his name…except Beetlejuice is more pleasant to be around." Rolyn murmured as she reached up into one of the taller cabinets to retrieve some glasses so she could offer her guest something to drink. Jason sucked his teeth at her as he moved behind her and tickled her sides. Marina cracked an amused smile as she watched Rolyn jump with a yelp, almost dropping the tall glasses she had been retrieving.

"How have you been Jason? How's college president life treating you? Not too boring, I hope?" Marina inquired. Jason had only recently assumed his role as the President of Arceus University, Jocelyn having warmed his seat until he was ready. Before that, he had been a gym leader there in Jewel. He was one of the people to beat if you wanted to get into the Jewel league.

"I have to admit, shuffling papers is a step down from what I'm used to, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I liked the job." Jason said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Marina nodded just as Rolyn slid a glass of white cranberry juice towards the model's hand just as the doorbell sounded.

Rolyn perked up, her heart leaping in excitement. "I got it!" she sang as she scurried off.

"You know we have people for that, right, babe?" Jason called after her. His only response was his wife excited scream coupled with some more familiar girlish shrieks. Jason's expression didn't go completely blank though; no, not until Marina scrambled to get out of seat, most likely to join in on the screaming. It's like these women didn't video chat almost every day.

Rolling his eyes, Jason downed the rest of Marina's barely touched white cranberry juice before following after the aqua-haired beauty leisurely. He'd be lying if he didn't say he was a little excited himself. It had been a while since he's spoken to his friends, better yet seen them in person. It was because of this that he grinned wolfishly when he saw Drew, Aden and Paul working in tandem to drag luggage past the threshold of his home while their wives gushed over new hairstyles and hugged one another with strength that of an Ursaring.

"Don't look so smug." Drew chided as he dropped a cherry red suitcase close to Jason's foot. The college president threw his head back in a hearty laugh before grabbing his best friend's shoulders in a friendly hug. Drew sighed through his nose and returned the hug, patting his back.

"Pretty sweet palace…" Xander murmured as he let his eyes wander around. Jo crossed her arms over her chest, lopsided smile in place.

"Yea, it is pretty posh." she breathed carelessly. She had been to the summer villa plenty of times when she vacationed with her family, but this was Xander's first time and the guy was never perturbed by anything pertaining to the aristocratic life.

"Gosh, I love Amy Isle!" Crista squealed as she skipped up next to Jo in the threshold.

"I do too!" Corinne agreed as she followed her twin's example, but came up next to Xander.

The boy in question rolled his eyes. "What a coincidence…" he grumbled sarcastically.

"Lighten up, Purugly," Tevin chuckled as he nudged Corinne away from Xander and took the girl's spot beside him. Corinne huffed ad shot the older boy a glare that was easily ignored. "We are going to be staying on one of the most gorgeous tropical islands this side of the southern hemisphere. Cling to that because it's likely the only thing that will keep you sane throughout the entirety of this trip."

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Xander murmured rather irately. Tevin grinned at him carelessly before giving him a nice pat on the shoulder and moving away just in time to be ambushed.

"Tevin, look at you." Rolyn gasped as she snatched up her nephew by the shoulders. "You are looking more and more like your father every time I see you. Not exactly the best thing in the world, but it's always good to see you grow." The dark-haired woman smiled wryly and Tevin perked a brow. From behind her, Drew had his eyes narrowed into a glare, having easily picked up on his sisters subtle insult to what he believed was his undoubtedly good looks.

May appeased him by wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving the one closest to her hand a gentle squeeze. Drew leaned into her a bit more, still looking rather miffed, but not so much that anyone would expect him to counter his sisters words.

"And my favorite niece!" Rolyn squealed as she traipsed over to Jo in wedges that made her look like she was shuffling. Jo braced herself, putting on a wide smile as she allowed her aunt to envelope her in a tight hug. From her side, Xander stared on with wide eyes. He had only ever seen Rolyn Alvarez or her husband for that matter, in magazines. He was more accustomed to Corinne and Crista's parents along with Dawn and Paul Shinji and Marina and Jimmy Talon since they all lived in Hoenn.

"Hi Aunty Ro," Jo greeted as she pulled away from the tight hug.

"How's my little heiress been? Causing her parents hell, I hope." Rolyn smiled lopsidedly and Jo chuckled while discreetly nodding. "Good girl." Rolyn winked at her before taking note of the new face out of the corner of her eye. "And who is this handsome young man?" The former princess gestured to Xander and the tips of his ears turned red.

"My best friend, Xander!" Jo said excitedly as she linked her arm tightly with the aforementioned boy. Xander smiled sheepishly as Rolyn turned towards him fully.

"Cute," Rolyn giggled.

"And where are your children, Ro?" May inserted. "I thought they'd be waiting at the door." she said with a smile.

"They were, but then Misha coaxed them into having a battle on the beach." Rolyn explained.

"Is Patou already here and she just refused to see us?" Alex said rather flatly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"She only came to drop Misha off then went over to Diamond to get Ian. You know he's just getting back from Unova." Rolyn corrected the purple haired woman who merely shrugged in a way that told Rolyn that she was sticking to her own reasons for Goldilocks' absence.

"Misha's already here?" Crista squealed to her twin. "I need to change! I'm totally in travel gear, not potential flirtation gear! I thought I'd have more time!" She began to rambled, catching Jo's attention as well.

Corinne took her sister by the shoulders and shook her once, just hard enough to get Crista to snap her mouth shut. "Relax! We can totally get you changed in three minutes tops."

"No worries Crista," Jo added with a flippant wave of her hand. "Operation Get-Misha-In-Your-Pants is a go as of right now." she whispered with a crooked smile and devious look in her blue eyes. Crista keened and hid her reddening face in her hands. "Aunty Ro, do you mind if we freshen up a bit before we go see Mickey and the others?"

Rolyn smiled. "Sure, you'll all be rooming with Mickey in her bedroom. You remember where that is?" Jo nodded with an exaggerated smile. "Okay then, I'll have someone bring up your luggage as soon as possible, okay?"

"Thanks Aunty Ro!" Jo said quickly before turning towards Crista and Corinne and jerked her head in the direction of the main stairs. The twins immediately began gathering themselves; Crista snatched up one of her suitcases, the one she knew she packed all her cuter clothes in before the trio scampered off without another word. Xander watched his best friend go and gave a brief, dejected pout.

"You boys will be staying with Calum, so I don't know if you want to get settled in too or you just want to head towards the back." Rolyn said as she jerked her thumb behind her in the direction the girls had all but ran off in.

"I think I'll just go introduce Xander to Misha, Cal and Mickey," Tevin said as he took the taller boy by the shoulders and led him towards the living room. The living room had the glass sliding doors that led straight out onto the area of the patio that was closest to the beach.

As soon as the two boys were out of earshot, Rolyn turned towards May with wide eyes. "Holy Arceus, Annabelle gave birth to the hottest boy I have ever seen." she hissed.

"I know!" May retorted almost automatically.

"Being that cute should be illegal." Alex breathed with a shake of her head.

"His smile is so adorable!" Dawn agreed.

"He could be a model." Marina added with a thoughtful look and a nod.

"So you're pedophiles, is what I'm getting out of this." Jason inserted loudly. All five woman fell into silence as they gave the green eyed boy identical blank looks.

"Sounds like someone's jealous," A new voice inserted.

"Oh, look who decided to show up." Alex chided as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave the blonde an indignant once over. Patou smirked at her before making a show of flipping her air over her shoulder.

"I'm just fashionably late," The golden-haired fashion designer commented as she sauntered through the threshold with Ian close behind her. "But I think I came in at the right time. I got a glimpse of the kid you were talking about on the way in. He is too cute."

"I know!" May gasped.

And they were at it again.

Ian saddled up beside an annoyed looking Jason and smirked. "It's okay Jason, I still think you're cute." he said lowly as he poked his best friend in the cheek. Jason swat his hand away as his bottom lip jut out into a pout.

"I know I'm cute!" Jason snapped.

* * *

_All done with the second chapter. That took a little longer than I would have wanted, but I want things to move. I doubt this story will be as long as previous ML stories so I need the progress of meetings and such not to be so dramatic and long. Next chapter, all the kids should (finally) be together and the real party begins. I am so excited. Hopefully by at least chapter seven or eight, I will have my new laptop. I think it's time I retired Justin Hartley (if you are not aware, that is what I affectionately named my laptop). He's not that old, but he's not cutting it anymore. This will be the first time I buy my own computer too! Camp starts soon and by the end of two weeks of work, I'll have enough money for that Ultrabook I've been researching. Anyhoo, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next one should be done soon._

_Feel free to review._

_~Rolyn~ _


	3. Impressions

_It feels like it's been forever since I've typed, rather than a few weeks. I am so glad I finally got my new computer. I'm gonna have to get used to this new keyboard though so don't be surprised if you find any random mistakes…even after I do go over it. I guess I'm just lazy. I have been itching to write something and honestly, I had this entire chapter typed out weeks ago and my old computer decided that, just as I was wrapping up my bottom author's note, that it was going to completely fail on me. You have no idea how frustrated I was. I hate losing hours of work like that. I decided I'm going to back up on my external hard drive every time I decide to type on the computer. I doubt I'm going to lose this chapter this time around, but better safe than sorry, right?_

_~Rolyn~_

* * *

_Chapter Three: Impressions_

* * *

"Are you done yet!?"

Crista cringed, almost fumbling with the brush she had been running through her ponytail. She had been doing so unconsciously, letting her mind wander while she remained held up in Mickey's en suite bathroom. She had begun to ask herself if this was worth it. Why should she even do this? Of course she wanted to look nice because…well she was one of the Miller twins. Looking nice was what they did and when it came to special occasions such as catching they eye of that special someone, they went above and beyond…but right now, she was uneasy. Of course she wanted Misha to notice how cute she looked. The strapless powder purple dress with the pink sash had to have been her best choice with the not-quite-first impression, but she didn't want him to only notice that.

She was an interesting girl; she was fun and on a good day she could be exceptionally witty and entertaining, granted that her sister was usually around for her to use as a springboard and vice versa. She was excellent girlfriend material, even without the clothes, hair and makeup. Her ability to make herself presentable and eye catching was merely a bonus that any possible suitors could indulge in. Right now, she only had one suitor in mind…despite the fact that she was the one doing the actual pursuing. She hadn't the slightest clue if Misha actually even looked at her in such a way. They were friends, sure; that was a given considering their upbringing, but they never talked much outside of these Untouchable get-togethers. She was barely past the first page of the novel that was Misha Grey.

There was a heavy handed bang on the bathroom door and Crista jumped. There was no doubt that it was Jo. She had been the one to call out to her before. The blonde lacked patience, especially when it came to primping, one of the frivolous things she'd never understand. Crista blamed it on the fact that Jo had the coveted natural beauty. She never had to do anything to come off as gorgeous. Crista was admittedly jealous and blamed the blonde's near perfect genes.

"Crista!" It was Corinne's turn to call out. On the other side of the bathroom door, the oldest of the twins had her arms crossed over her chest with an annoyed scowl pulling at her lips. It was her anxiousness to see her sister in her chosen outfit that had her losing her patience just as easily as Jo. She would have been more understanding if she wasn't so sure that Crista was just stalling at this point. "Some time today would be nice! We are losing valuable time here. Your future boyfriend awaits!"

Crista groaned and introduced her hand to her forward inside the bathroom. Her cheeks burned with a blush at her sister words. Neither Jo nor her sister could truly understand how she felt right now. She liked to believe she was a confident girl. She carried herself with dignity and pride. With Alex Cramer for a mother, how could she not? However, unlike her sister, she had a very insecure, shy side. Her Aunt Dawn had told her stories of how her father was the same way and Uncle Jimmy would slap him for it, claiming he was a quitter, but Crista just couldn't fight back the biting feeling that this wouldn't turn out like she hoped.

Misha was practically untouchable when she really thought about it. He was smart, aloof and real while she was bubbly and optimistically pessimistic. She barely knew anything about him besides the basics so she had no clue if they truly had anything in common and there was that annoying factor of distance. She lived in Hoenn, he lived in Jewel. Long distance relationships always looked cute in movies and books, but Crista questioned if she could really survive that or if Misha would even want that.

"Celebi, help me…" She whined as she set her brush down. She took a look at herself in the mirror one more time. She really was a pretty girl, but right now she couldn't help but criticize and judge every single part of her. Her ponytail was too high; maybe she shouldn't have pulled her hair back. Was her dress to tight? I mean, who really wore a tight dress on the first day of their vacation? Was that a pimple forming on her nose? "Okay…breathe…" Crista coached herself.

She took in a deep breath and smoothed out the skirt of her dress one last time before gathering her bathroom tote, tucking her brush in it and moving towards the door. One last deep breath and she was clicking the lock out of place, but before she could reach for the knob, the door flung open and standing in the doorway was an annoyed looking Jo. Crista blinked in surprise while the youngest Hayden sized her up slowly through narrowed blue eyes.

"Hmm…" Jo hummed shortly as she slowly crossed he arms over her chest. Crista suddenly felt ten times more self-conscious, wondering what had brought upon the Hayden's not-so-discreet disapproval.

"Oh, my Arceus…." Corinne gasped. "You look so adorable!" She squealed clapping her hands together in excitement. "Totally worth the wait! Misha is going to fall head over heels!"

"Really?" Crista laughed sheepishly as she glanced down at her choice of dress. "You don't think it's too much? I actually look nice?" She questioned with hopeful violet eyes.

"You look like a girl." Jo deadpanned with a shake of her head.

"She is a girl." Corinne retorted in her sister's defense.

"Yea, but it looks like she's trying too hard." Jo said as she gestured towards Crista. The girl in question flushed bright red all over, as the sudden urge to change her clothes came over her.

Noticing the uncertainty in her sister's face. Corinne sucked her teeth in annoyance and waved off Jo's words. "No it doesn't. You looks cute and casual; like you know what you're doing when you get dressed in the morning. You dress with confidence, now you need to actually have that confidence." Corinne placed her hand on her sister's shoulders and Crista couldn't fight back her grin.

"Thanks, twinny!" She giggled.

"No problem, twinny!" Corinne squealed right back.

The pair embraced, spouting out I-love-you's and compliments to one another while Jo watched on with bored eyes and arms, once again, crossed over her chest. The blonde wondered why she hung out with these two, but at the same time, she wouldn't have it any other way. Corinne and Crista were the perfect amount of weird for her.

* * *

Tevin cringed as a familiar, undignified shriek resounded from outside the sliding door in the family room. He sighed deeply as the screech was followed up by jumbled yelling as one person tried to talk over the other. Tevin knew just how bad Mickey and Cal could get when they didn't see eye to eye. They were both stubborn and ill tempered. He had never met anyone so quick to anger than his two cousins, Cal more so than Mickey.

"Any particular reason why you're just standing there?" Xander asked behind him. Tevin narrowed his greenish-blue eyes over his shoulder at his friend and Xander perked a brow in response. The older of the two (by months) rolled his eyes and unlocked the door before sliding it open. As soon as he did so, he was nearly plowed over by someone a head taller than him. "Gar," Xander nodded towards the older man.

"Oh, you guys are here now too…" Garrett breathed as he looked from Tevin to Xander.

"We just got in an hour or so earlier." Tevin explained. The navy haired young man nodded once, looking well past disinterested. Tevin and Xander were undeterred by Garrett's devil-may-care attitude since that was just the way he was. The only time he did show some form of emotion or interest was when Jessica was involved and seeing as she wasn't around, the world could explode and Garrett Talon would quite literally, care less.

"That's nice," Garrett sighed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lock myself in a room farthest from the terrible twosome that is Mikayla and Calum Alvarez." He explained as he maneuvered past the two eighteen year olds and went well on his way.

"Is that all the yelling I hear?" Xander asked quietly. Tevin nodded, almost solemnly before stepping out onto the deck that led straight into the private beach. To the right there was a patio that extended outwards along with a pool and lounge area, but that was not where they planned to go.

Tevin noticed a little out on the beach, his two cousin's were close together, shouting at one another. Calum was bent down a bit to get in his sisters face and Mikayla had her hands on her hips, her right hip cocked out meaning she meant business. Sitting off to the side, burying his feet in the sand was Misha, who was making no moves to tear apart the fighting pair even though he had been the ref of the Pokémon battle they had prior to the argument. Mikayla's claim that Calum had used underhanded moves may have been true, but Misha would rather not insert himself in a legendary Alvarez fight. Last time that happened, he came out with claw marks from perfectly manicured nails and a black eye. Never again.

Xander closed the sliding door behind them, gaining the attention of the dark haired boy that had his feet buried in the sand. Misha glanced over his shoulder and his brow shot up in surprise at the sight of one of his long time friends. He smiled noticeably as he quickly hopped to his feet, brushing off excess sand from his rolled up skinny jeans. He approached the oncoming new arrivals and his smile grew.

"Tevin," He greeted with a nod towards the eldest Hayden sibling.

Tevin smiled lopsidedly as he held his hand out to the dark haired boy. "Misha, what's up?" Misha took the offered hand and they shook once before Misha pulled Tevin in for a friendly hug. The two friends had not seen each other in person for almost a year.

"Nothing much, just enjoying the show that is a Mickey and Cal fight. I'm taking bets on who will have the last word, but be warned, we probably won't know until the end of the week." Misha joked with a smirk.

"Oh, I know…" Tevin sighed. "I could hear them going at it back by the house. Obviously whatever they're fighting over is trivial, but I'll ask, what prompted them to go at it like a pair of angry Jigglypuff?"

"You sound like Aunt Alex with that analogy." Misha chuckled. Tevin shrugged. "Well they were having a Pokémon battle and Cal didn't exactly play fair. Long story short, Mickey's Cubchoo is going to need some extensive recovery time."

"Ah," Tevin nodded slowly as he let his eyes trail over to his bickering cousins. "Of course." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Their arguments were absolutely ridiculous, but they never lasted long. They'd calm down eventually and subtly insult each other for the rest of the day, but that was just who Calum and Mikayla were.

While Tevin took to watching and waiting for the Alvarez siblings to calm down, Misha turned his oceanic eyes on the new face. He immediately perked a brow when he noticed the deep auburn haired boy was also focused on the argument, or more specifically, one of the people involved in said shouting match. Misha stared on bemused as this boy stared at his God-sister, practically drooling, what with the way his mouth was hanging open like that. It didn't help matters any that Mickey was dressed in only a pair of board shorts and a bikini top since they were surfing earlier. Yup, Misha knew exactly what this guy was staring at.

"Hey," He finally addressed the newcomer and snapped his fingers twice in the taller guy's face. Xander flinched and quickly turned hazel eyes on the dark haired boy before him. "Eye's to yourself."

Xander perked a brow. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just…enjoying the amazing view. This beach is stunning." Xander smiled sarcastically and Misha perked a brow, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This _beach_ is private property so watch where you _step_, okay?" Misha retaliated with a sardonic smile of his own. Xander narrowed his eyes briefly, but his smile broadened. The two young men stared each other down; Misha silently issuing the challenge and Xander silently accepting it.

Noticing the tension between the two of them, Tevin inserted himself. "I forgot to introduce my friend; Misha this is Alexander Silverman." The brunette said stepping between the two of them and gesturing to Xander.

Xander held out a hand for Misha to shake and Misha took it, shaking it once. "I prefer Xander, by the." Xander added.

"I'll call you Lex then." Misha responded with a grin.

Xander's pleasant smile twitched and Tevin sighed deeply. Before another not so discreet argument could erupt, the initial one ended with a frustrated groan from Mickey that was followed up by her declaration that she was done. There was collective relief as another battle had been drawn to a close despite the war still raging. With the fight between siblings seemingly over, the two Alvarez were able to finally take note of their company.

Mickey's bright brown eyes widened comically as she shuffled in the sand away from her brother and made a beeline for her cousin. Tevin smiled admiringly as he opened his arms for Mickey to fall into. She laughed lightly as she wrapped her arms around his middle and he did the same.

"Nice to see you too, Mickey." He said as she pulled away just enough to look up into his face with a pretty smile pulling at her lips.

"When did you get here? Is Jo here too? How have you been? I missed you!" She went off as she pulled away from the hug fully and knocked Tevin lightly in the chest with her fist.

"In order; like an hour ago, yes, fine and I missed you too." He basically listed off. Mickey laughed and hit him in the chest again, this time with enough force to make him take a step back and clear his throat awkwardly. Misha smirked at his discomfort.

It was then Mickey took notice of the other young man with Tevin. She had seen pictures before; being best friends with Jo meant she was entitled to see just who she was hanging out with when they weren't together and let the record show, no picture could live up to the real thing. Mickey's heart immediately dropped. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, but she found no comfort in it either as her eyes found Xander's. He immediately smiled at her a little lopsidedly and nodded at her. She swallowed thickly and managed a nervous smile of her own.

On Xander's side of the wordless exchange, he couldn't help but feel like he had gotten better than he expected. The girl was a spitting image of her mother, which was all he had to go by until this moment. She really was stunning; all bright eyes, blemish free olive skin and curves that could bring a man to his knees. He had truly hit the jackpot with this one, and by the look on her face, claiming the prize wouldn't be much of a challenge.

"Mikayla, right?" He pointed at her and she nodded dumbly.

"Yea, but you can just call me Mickey." Her smile broadened for a brief moment before she pulled it back in and cleared her throat awkwardly. "And you're Alexander?" She held out a hand for him to shake, but instead he took her hand within his own and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it.

"Just Xander," He murmured while lifting his head. He threw in a wink at the last second and Mickey felt a blush burning up the back of her neck. She cleared her throat again, a nervous habit she had adopted ever since she had to ditch the whole fiddling with her glasses thing when she had gotten contacts. She turned her head and pulled her hand away with a little more force than necessary but Xander wasn't deterred.

Tevin had been watching the entire exchange discreetly from the side, but was soon pulled away when a hand clapped down on his shoulder. He tore his eyes away from the flustered Mickey in favor of greeting his other cousin. He grinned at Cal who nodded at him in return before they pulled together for a brief hug.

"I guess Mickey and I were too into it to notice we had company," Cal chuckled as he pulled away and pat Tevin's shoulder a couple of times. "It's good to see you. I'm guessing everyone else is here too?"

Tevin nodded. "Jo and the twins decided to be girls and settle in and freshen up before greeting everyone." Tevin explained with a flippant wave of his hand.

"I expect that from Corinne and Crista, but Jo?" Cal quirked a brow as he laughed once from behind closed lips. Tevin nodded with a slightly lopsided smile. "Well they probably won't take too long."

"In the meantime, you can officially meet Xander," Tevin placed a hand on Xander's shoulder. The hazel eyed boy had still been blatantly ogling Mikayla while Misha glared daggers at him and Mikayla pretended not to notice. Believing he had been caught, Xander grinned boyishly and quickly directed his attention towards Calum.

Calum gave the other eighteen year old a once over while slowly extending a hand out for the customary first-meeting handshake. Jo had sent pictures and described this other guy to him and while he understood that Xander was Jo's best friend and only that, he couldn't help but envy the fact that this admittedly good looking guy got to spend unmeasurable amounts of time with her while he had to stick to phone and video calls. From what Jo has told him, nothing could possibly go on between her and Xander because they were practically siblings and she knew all of Xander's tricks, but it didn't help any that this guy even had tricks at all.

Despite that, he was still Jo's friend. He has never done anything to wrong her or Tevin for that matter since they were both his family and that was the only reason he was concerned…because it had to do with family. Cal had no reason to have any ill will towards Xander and hopefully he never would. Jo wouldn't appreciate it…and neither would Tevin, because both their opinions mattered. He didn't favor one over the other.

"Calum Alvarez," He introduced as he and Xander shook hands.

Xander smiled at him pleasantly and nodded. "I know. Jo talks about you constantly." His smiled turned a little crooked and Cal felt something settle in his stomach.

"Oh, how cute! My two favorite men meeting for the first time!"

"Yea because Dad and I could never fit in that category." Tevin interjected sarcastically as Jo wedged herself between him and Xander.

"You and Dad are my two favorite egotistical butt nuggets." Jo retaliated while poking her older brother's cheek. Tevin swatted her hand away with an indignant look on his face. Jo smirked at him before turning away. Her sudden appearance was brought upon by the twins need to have the perfect atmosphere set up for Crista. They sent Jo ahead and planned on making their appearance soon after.

"Jo!" Mikayla suddenly lost her meekness and attacked the platinum blonde in a bone crushing hug. Jo made a gagging noise as Mickey held her tight while humming her approval of finally getting to see her most favorite cousin and best friend. All the while, Jo began to turn blue as her lungs cleared of air and the circulation was cut off from her arms. "I missed you so much!"

"And you'll miss her after she dies because you re choking her." Misha deadpanned. Mickey gasped and quickly released the blonde. Jo took in a gulp of air and coughed overdramatically for a few moments before finally getting herself back together.

"Sorry Jo," Mickey giggled.

"It's okay…" Jo panted. "I missed you too, by the way."

"It goes without being said." Mickey smiled proudly and Jo shot her a brief look before turning towards Misha who was the closest to Mickey. She gave him a crooked smile as she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip out.

"Well," She began giving him an obvious once over. "If it isn't my favorite fruit-loop."

Misha cocked his head ever so slightly to the side. "Look who's talking, nut-case."

Jo scoffed, but extended her arms out for a hug. The two of them embraced briefly and Misha was the first to pull away, noticing the undefinable look on Cal's face. He smirked inwardly and twisted Jo ever so slightly so that when she fully pulled away from him, she'd be facing Cal just enough for her not to try to ignore his presence. She was purposely acting cool, Misha noticed, probably to hide the fact that she really was excited to finally see him.

He took a step back and Jo gave him a strange look before she took note of Cal out the corner of her eye. She'd deny this later, but it may have been possible that her heartbeat may have stuttered once or twice. She swallowed thickly, mentally berating herself and trying to maintain her composure as she forced her best cheeky grin and turned towards her cousin fully (can't forget that he's her cousin).

"Hey Cal," She greeted as she took those two steps between them and got on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. Calum bent down a bit to accommodate her and he smiled softly, having been overwhelmed by that 'finally' feeling. Her wrapped his arms around her and relished the feeling of having her ponytail brush his cheek. He didn't know how much he missed her until he had her here.

"Missed you," He said simply. She simply nodded, caring less that everyone else present was appreciating the show of PDA.

"Missed you more, you butt." She laughed as she pulled away. In spite of this, he kept his arms around her waist.

"I doubt it." He retaliated while freeing one of his hands to flip her ponytail playfully. Jo couldn't help but smile.

While she did have her brother, Xander, Corinne and Crista all year round, she could never admit to being as happy as she was now with Cal…and Mickey as well, of course. No video call that was hours on end could compare to actually being able to be with Calum the way she was now. While Xander and Mickey were her best friends, Cal always was little more special. There was no denying the kind of power he held over her. As much as she liked to believe that no one person on Earth could ever influence her in any way, Cal was an important, leading part of her life.

"I think the two of you actually gave me a cavity." Misha complained, cradling his cheek as though he had a sore tooth. Calum released Jo completely and shot him a dirty look that didn't go unnoticed by Tevin, but he decided not to say anything.

"I thought the twins were with you." Cal said to Jo, trying to change the subject.

"They were…" Jo said looking towards the sliding doors she had come through. She sent a telepathic message to the twins, demanding they make an appearance right at that moment, but since she didn't actually have the mind-based superpowers, there were no twins. Jo mentally cursed her parents for not passing down the superpowers she was convinced was in her families genes what with her mm having super strength and her father being a super self-aggrandizer.

A beat passed before the sliding doors finally hissed open and out stepped the twins. Since Crista had changed her clothes and hair, Jo could easily tell them apart now while everyone else would remain in the dark unless they had that coveted ability to tell one Miller twin from the other.

"We're her!" The twins chorused as they skipped along the deck towards the stairs. Corinne hopped down them first and Crista moved to follow, only for her sandal to fold under her foot and cause her to stumble. Her fall happened in slow motion as everyone watched her take a face full of sand upon impact.

Corinne stood there with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as he sister just remained there, laying in the sand for a few seconds. Jo slapped a hand to her forehead in exasperation. Of _course_ Crista would trip and fall and make a fool of herself after all that preparation and coaxing for this very moment.

Nobody moved as Crista pulled her face up from the sand, but her head stayed down in embarrassment. Corinne remained stock still at her side, unable to find her ability to move and help her sister. Instead Misha jogged over to the two of them and crouched down beside Crista, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Crista?" He inquired.

She whipped her head up and blinked in surprise. "Y-You know who I am?" She stammered. She wanted to die for stammering.

Misha gave her a weird look. "Of course I do. We've been friends since we were born." He laughed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"No," Crista said quickly as her entire face burned red. "No, I mean you can tell me and Corinne apart. Last time I saw you, you could never really tell." She explained with a sheepish look. Misha blinked and looked up at Corinne who was still as unmoving as a statue.

"Well yea, but I remember last summer you fell off my skateboard and got that scar." He trailed his hand from her shoulder to her elbow and ran his thumb along the slightly paler skin that had once been a nasty laceration caused by her need to grab a boy's attention. "You've always been the klutzy twin." He added with a lopsided smile.

"Oh gosh…" Crista groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Don't sweat it," Misha said quickly as he stood to his feet and offered his hands to her. She gratefully took them, still blushing forty shades of red and he hoisted her to her feet. "I always thought it was cute."

He smiled at her and her knees went weak.

* * *

_You have no idea how difficult it was for me to finish tis chapter. I kept trying to remember what I had initially written while trying to accommodate the new ideas that just kept pouring in. I apologize for the delay. I have been going crazy when it comes to work and baking and I have just been dead tired for the last three weeks. Also, I've been doing a bit of soul searching; getting back to that place and praying a hell of a lot more when it comes to the big things in my life and now things are changing. My self-esteem has been sky rocketing, my happiness is less dependent on others and my feelings for people are becoming clear. I just need to stay on this correct path. I'll try my best to get back on track but I do have two more weeks of camp and a wedding I have to prepare for (not my own, I'm just baking the cake). Until next time!_

_Don't forget to offer me some feedback._

_~Rolyn~ _


	4. Imitation

_A hint of writers block has hindered me and I was focusing on my baking for like, two weeks since it's my only source of income right now, but I think I need to give myself a break and relax/ There is no better way for me to relax than to type. I could get cranky if someone interrupted me though. I want to thank you all for being patient and encouraging to me, not only here but on Facebook as well. You guys make it all worthwhile and when I'm thinking of being lazy or just stopping all together, it's my determination to not let any of you down that have me up late at night typing away. I can't promise a set schedule or anything. Like usual, my updates will be sporadic because obviously organization and schedules aren't my think. Thanks for bearing with me._

_~Rolyn~_

* * *

_Chapter Four: Imitation_

* * *

"Drew," May hissed from the window in the kitchen. Her husband, who had been doing a little catching up with his old friend Jimmy, jumped at his wife's sudden call of his name. He glanced over his shoulder at her, narrowing green eyes. May wasn't deterred by the look; in fact, she returned it with twice the amount of venom. Drew slumped his shoulders and gave her a blank look that silently asked what she wanted. "Come here!" she growled, waving him over frantically.

Drew turned back to Jimmy who had his brow perked in question, but his amused grin trumped his curiosity. Drew shot him a dirty look before moving away from the kitchen island and sauntering over to where his wife was by the window. Once by her side, he looked at her, once again giving her that blank look that questioned why it was so very important for him to join her at the window. He has seen the view of the beach a million times so if she had called him over to admire the natural beauty of the landscape, he was ripping all his pretty green hair out.

"Look," his wife instructed as she pressed her index finger to the glass of the window, in one specific direction in particular. Drew followed her finger and perked his brow at the sight he was greeted with. He laughed once behind closed lips "I know!" May squealed.

"So now we're spying on the kids?" Drew questioned flatly. May sucked her teeth at him and rolled her eyes dramatically. He made a mental note to keep her away from his sister for a while. It appeared that she was taking on her theatrical ways.

"I was just checking up on Jo and Tevin, but they seem to be perfectly fine." May smiled knowingly as she continued to stare out her window at the group of eight teenagers all gathered in a group on the beach, probably catching up with one another. "They've never done this before…I mean, they've never grouped together so quickly." she pointed out.

Drew glanced at his wife, easily catching up on the hint of nostalgia that had slithered into her tone. The green haired man couldn't help but smile. May was all about the good old days while still keeping her eyes trained on the future. It was like having the best of both worlds for her. She had always told him that her teenage and young adult years were some of the best times of her life because of the people that were in it. He could tell that she was hoping that her own kids could say the same.

"This will probably be the last time they're all together like this, what with Tevin and Xander going on their journey come September…" May murmured unconsciously. She was so lost in thought. "I think Jo wants to go with her brother too and the twins plan on going to a school of arts all the way in the Cartisan region."

"I'm sure they'll take advantage of the opportunities they have now. Teenagers don't usually think that far into the future." Drew sighed as he stuck his hands in his pockets. May perked a brow at him, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "These kids are the live-in-the-moment types."

"Kinda like we were?" she laughed, bumping her hip into his. Drew gave her a dry look and she giggled more openly. He rolled his eyes but smiled despite himself. There wasn't a thing his wife could do that didn't make him smile.

"I guess," he breathed. "But we don't want history to repeat itself too much. Everything started out a little rocky for all of us."

"True," May agreed immediately, all signs of amusement melting from her features. "It's only right that parents want better for their children, right?"

Drew smiled at her encouragingly and pulled a hand out of his pocket so he could wrap it around the brunette's shoulders. May automatically brought herself closer to him so that he was holding her flush against him. She tucked her head under his chin and he squeezed her briefly before kissing the crown of her head.

"You are an excellent mother, do you know that?" he said quietly. May hummed as she wrapped her arms around his middle. He wasn't sure if she was humming in agreement of content; probably both.

"I had so many mother figures in my life that trained me for this." May retorted as she thought back to Jennifer, Amy, Annette, Starr, Florence, Jordyn, Johanna, her own mother and all the other mom's that had to keep them all in check. May laughed lightly and shook her head.

"Um, I believe it is called an Untouchable reunion and not an Untouchable alone-time-with-your-husband vacation." Alex voice interjected, breaking the serene air that had come over the couple. Drew glared at the purple haired professional dancer over his shoulder and Alex smiled back him with so much false sweetness that he thought he was going to get an ulcer.

"Sorry, Alex, we were just reminiscing." May apologized as she turned to face her old friend. Alex crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head with a fond smile.

"Of course you were. You like to keep one foot in the future and one in the past, Sugar Plumb," May smiled when Alex used her old nickname for her. It seemed that Alex only stuck to nicknames nowadays when they were all together like this.

"You know me." May giggled.

Alex nodded. "Well, we decided to go out to dinner tonight at one of Jason's new restaurants. I swear he has the attention span of a Goldeen. He can't just focus on his school, no he has to be a business owner, a gym leader, a pervert, an idiot…" Alex went off as she sauntered out the kitchen.

* * *

It wasn't long before the group of eight split down the middle and the girls gravitated towards each other like girls always did, or so Tevin claimed. Crista and Corinne had tugged Mickey away and Jo had been roped in as well, albeit with a hint of reluctance. She had just been reunited with Calum. Why would she ever want to waste any opportunity she had of catching up with him despite the fact that they spoke practically every day on the video phone.

It was this sudden clinginess that brought Jo to the conclusion that it would be better if she did stick with the girls for once. Usually they'd all hang out together, yes, and more usually was it just her and Mickey, but things were different now. The girls never bonded and neither did the boys so while they would take advantage of moving as a giant mass of Untouchable children, it was best if they had some girl time as well. There were just some things girls couldn't talk about in front of boys.

"Oh, my Arceus!" Crista squealed. "Did you see the way he smiled at me!?"

Like boys.

Despite Crista's hilarious tumble she had taken earlier, she wasn't upset in the slightest. Jo understood why. Misha had actually helped her up and smiled at her in this way that Crista could not get over. Jo wondered how a simple friendly gesture such as a smile could be so significant, but this was Crista Miller they were talking about. She was the more girlish, bubbly half of the terrible twosome that was the Miller twins.

"He even told us apart!" Corinne gasped as the group of four girls continued to trek down the beach. "He recognized Crista by something that no one would have remembered if they didn't care. This is going to be so much easier than I could have hoped."

Mickey looked between the animated twins with a lopsided smile and a perked brow. "What's going to be easier?" she questioned.

"Oh," Corinne gasped. "We might as well bring you in on the plan." she whispered dramatically as she stepped past Jo and wedged herself between her and Mickey. The aforementioned girl gave an amused chuckle as Corinne glanced around as if she were looking for eavesdroppers. Once she had made sure there was no one listening in on the conversation, Corinne gestured for them all to bring it in closer. The four girls huddled together tightly while simultaneously keeping up the pace of their walk. "Okay…Crista likes Misha."

"No…" Mickey drawled sarcastically. Jo smirked and Crista's cheeks were quickly dusted a bright red color. She really hoped that Mickey was just very observant and she wasn't so obvious that it was apparent to everyone. "Don't give that look Crista," Mickey said quickly. "I just know because I know how you are with boys you feel for." she smiled lopsidedly and Crista's blush deepened.

"Anyway," Corinne said firmly, demanding all the attention to be redirected to her. "Jo, Crista and I made a plan to get Misha to fall for Crista by any means necessary."

"You can't force romance." Mickey pointed out with an awkward chuckle.

"We can try." Jo retorted with a smirk. Mickey's brow furrowed. "I mean, it's not like Crista isn't hot and she has a good personality…sometimes." Jo shrugged when Crista gave her a narrowed eyed look, her violet hues flashing dangerously.

"I have a feeling Misha already feels something for her anyway." Corinne said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't know," Mickey muttered. All eyes quickly turned on he and she swallowed thickly. She didn't want to be the bearer of relatively bad news concerning the romance related plot they had come up with. Despite herself, she decided to elaborate. "I spend a lot of time with Misha and he's never really paid girls any mind and if he did, he kept them locked in the friend or family-zone."

"Well I could have told you that and I don't spend as much time with him." Jo murmured more to herself than anyone else, but Joanne Hayden was never good at keeping her voice down.

"Jo, why are you even helping if you felt the same way?" Crista was practically whimpering at this point.

"If what you call what she's done so far, helping." Corinne griped with a roll of her eyes. "Jo has always been a little pessimistic about these things considering her track record when it comes to men."

"Okay, reel it in Barbie," Jo said loudly as she turned narrowed blue eyes on Corinne. The deep purple haired girl gasped dramatically before returning the look. "I'm not pessimistic; I just state facts that don't match up with the future you've planned up. We don't know what's going to happen which is why I'm helping. Maybe Misha likes her already, maybe he'll grow to like her, maybe all this is a bunch of bull and we shouldn't even try in the first place. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I'm willing to try to get there." By now the four girls had come to abrupt halt and made a circle with Corinne and Jo standing across from one another.

Corinne sighed deeply through her nose since she really had nothing to say in retaliation to Jo's words. It's not like they could control Misha's feelings. "Okay, let's agree that whatever happens, happens, but at least we tried to make things happen."

"Agreed." Jo said with a nod.

"Agreed." Mickey and Crista mimicked.

"Maybe it would take some of the pressure off if you guys didn't worry about it so much." Crista suddenly added. Her voice tapered off when she noticed the look her twin was giving her. She swallowed thickly and forced and awkward smile. "I mean, I'm the one who wants to date the guy. This is our vacation. You guys shouldn't make this so much of a mission and enjoy yourselves; maybe find a guy of your own?" Crista looked from her sister to Mickey just in time to see the olive skinned girl bite her lip thoughtfully. Crista smiled knowingly. It seemed that the youngest Alvarez had already thought about this. "Mickey?"

Jo and Corinne looked towards the brown haired girl, Jo with her brow arched in question and Corinne smiling excitedly. "You already like someone?" Corinne gasped shifting from one foot to the other.

"Who?" Jo said forcefully as she leaned in towards her cousin. "If you liked someone you would have told me unless you suddenly had love at first sight." the blonde said smartly as she sized up the other girl. Mickey smiled fleetingly.

"If that's the case, she must have just seen the guy!" Corinne gasped as a wide grin stretched across her pink lips. "It's one of the guys?"

"It can't be Cal or Misha cuz that's her brother and she wouldn't dare go after Crista's future man…." Jo said thoughtfully as she stared into her cousin's eyes. It took a little effort for her not to mention that Mickey wouldn't dare betray her by feeling anything towards Cal despite the fact that he was adopted. "It can't be Tevin because that's her favorite cousin even if you guys aren't blood related and you got over your crush on Garrett when you turned six so all that leaves is…" Jo laughed through her nose. Mickey swallowed nervously.

Corinne and Crista gasped in unison. "NO!" they shrieked while simultaneously slapping Mickey on either of her arms. Mickey flinched and turned a dark look from one to the other. The twins ignored the look and shot her identical glares. "You cannot like Silver-Tongue!" they chorused.

"Silver-Tongue?" Mickey repeated in confusion.

"That's what they call Xander," Jo explained with a flippant wave of her hand. She didn't miss the way that Mickey shifted her weight at the mention of the boy's name. "You know, Silverman, Silver-Tongue…it fits."

"And not just because it's an excellent play on words," Crista said.

"They guy is a snake." Corinne quickly added.

"A bigger player you will not find." Crista snorted.

"He's dated more girls than there are in our entire High School." Corinne chided.

"He's a complete sleaze!" Crista shrieked.

"Please tell us you don't like him!" the twins chorused nudging Jo back and pressing in close to Mickey. The brown eyed girl shuffled away from the twosome, all the while giving them strange looks. The twins were undeterred by the fact that they were being looked at like they had grown extra limbs. They stared down the youngest Alvarez awaiting her answer.

Even though Crista and Corinne were acting a little crazy, their words weren't ignored. Jo had mentioned before that Xander could be a bit of a playboy, but she always mentioned it jokingly and laughed it off. Mickey hadn't given it much thought and her excitement to finally meet her cousin's best friend was not stifled, but the twins were making him out to be disgusting and forbidden…like Mickey should not even entertain the idea of giving him the time of the day. She only hoped they were exaggerating.

"I-I don't like him…" Mickey stammered with a shake of her head. "I barely know him besides what Jo has told me and I don't believe in that love at first sight stuff. Love is a process…" she was blushing a pretty red by now and avoiding all eye contact.

"Well you must feel something," Jo suddenly inserted. "It's written all over your face." Mickey furrowed her brow at her as her blush deepened and Jo smirked in return.

"I just thought he was cute…"

"Unacceptable!" Corinne and Crista cried.

"Alexander Silverman is off limits!" Crista said firmly.

"Unless you're okay with getting used and having your heart stomped on by an ignorant jerk!" Corinne added, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing angry violet eyes.

Mickey glanced at Jo, silently searching for help. Jo sighed deeply. "I don't recommend getting too close." she murmured. Mickey's heart sunk. "The guy is my best friend and I'll love him no matter what he does, but I wouldn't know what to do if he hurt you."

"Okay," Mickey nodded slowly. "Okay, I get it. It's not like I was going to try anything anyways. Boys have never really been my thing." she forced a smile and shrugged carelessly. Jo bit the inside of her cheek, noticing the defeated look in her cousin's eyes. It was the same kind of defeat she felt. It was the kind that weighed heavy on the heart and was a constant reminder that some people just didn't get to be together; the kind that reminded her that in those moments that everything seemed to be going right and perfect, she couldn't afford to invest anything in a relationship that was plausible.

"There you girls are,"

The sudden heaviness in the air that threatened to weigh down on the four teenage girls was quickly pushed out to sea by the pleasant and beautiful smile of one Jessica Maybel. It was no wonder why Garrett had chosen her. She was everything a man could want. She was gorgeous, intelligent and best of all, she was humble about all of it. She was the closest thing to perfect out there and this annoyed Jo to no end, but she still couldn't help but love the woman. She was too nice to be hated.

"Jessica!" the twins giggled as they bounded over to the blonde. Jessica opened her arms and allowed the two shorter girls to grab her in a hug. "We missed you!"

"I missed you guys too," she laughed lightly. "It's good to see you too Jo, Mickey."

"Hey Jess," Mickey greeted. Jo merely nodded at her fellow blonde.

"Yes, well, I came to find you girls because we're leaving for dinner now." Jessica explained. "Everyone is in the cars ready to go, but you girls were nowhere to be found. It wasn't until Tevin finally told us you guys wandered off that we thought to come looking along the beach."

"Oh yea!" Mickey gasped. "We're going to one of my favorites of my Dad's restaurants. The food there is amazing and they serve all my favorites." the olive skinned girl grinned as she started backtracking along the beach the way they had come. "I need to go change out of my bathing suit. I'll meet you in the foyer." With that she spun on her heel and jogged off.

They watched her go for a moment before Jessica clapped her hands to get the three remaining girls' attention. "Well then, why don't we get a move on too, hmm?"

"Excellent idea," Corinne agreed.

"We are starving." Crista finished.

Jo rolled her eyes as she followed the other three girls.

* * *

"Pretty swanky place ya got here, Alvarez." Alex commented as she let her pink eyes wander. The restaurant was spacious and the interior design was very rustic. The color scheme was all greens, grays and browns and the soft, piano music screamed Jason Alvarez. Said man smirked proudly as he picked up his intricately folded, cloth napkin and opened it with a flourish.

"What did I say about inflating his ego…?" Rolyn grumbled with an eye roll. May snickered at her side in amusement.

"Ego? I don't have an ego?" Jason inquired. Rolyn gave him a blank look that clearly said 'are you kidding me?'

"Yea, and Dawn's favorite color isn't pink." Paul retorted sarcastically.

"It is, by the way." Dawn giggled as she took up her napkin and placed it along her lap. Paul turned his head towards her slowly and mouthed a very sardonic 'thank you, darling.' Dawn grinned at him and pressed her lips to his cheek for a brief kiss. Seven year old Penelope pursed her lips from her seat next to her mother.

"Dawn, you gotta be careful," Alex said with a smirk. "You're not just embarrassing Paul anymore."

"Yea!" Penelope piped up. "Kissing is gross!"

"You only say that because your little, sweetheart," Dawn said as she poked Penelope in the nose. The indigo haired child huffed and turned her face away from her mother's hand. Alex smirked. Penelope definitely was Paul's kid.

"Order anything you like, guys." Jason announced so the entire table could hear. "Drew is paying." the green haired man slowly turned his head towards his long time best friend, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Jason smiled lopsidedly while shrugging. "You're the richest guy at this table. The least you could do is treat us and put more money in my pocket."

"And I'm the richest woman and I say shut the hell up, the meal is on the Alvarez family." Rolyn chided as she took Jason's ear between her index finger and her thumb and twisted. Jason gasped in pain and tried to jerk his head away, but Rolyn kept her grip tight.

Cal groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead as he turned his head away from his parents and towards Jo who was sitting on his other side. She was snickering as she watched her Aunt slap her Uncle upside the head before whispering something in his ear that made him smirk.

"Your parents have a really weird relationship." she chuckled as she turned her blue eyes onto the green eyed boy. Cal rolled his eyes but smiled slightly despite himself.

"It's embarrassing." he grumbled. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"Nah," Jo said with a crooked smile. Cal smiled right back at her and she quickly turned her head. She absolutely detested when he smiled at her like that. It made her sick to her stomach. She remembered that Crista mentioned how she got the same sick feeling when Misha had touched her, but it couldn't possibly be the same thing. This sickness was unpleasant. It made her chest hurt.

"So," Cal began, regaining her attention. "I was wondering if you wanted to head out early tomorrow morning. We could go blading on the pier at sunrise. Everything looks a little better when the sun is just coming up here on Amy Isle."

Jo perked up at his words. "Oh, that sounds cool. I'll tell Mickey later…"

"No," Cal cut her off. "I mean like the two of us…" he trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly. "You know, so we can catch up face to face and spend some one on one time together before the real reunion stuff starts." he smiled briefly and Jo blinked stupidly.

It almost sounded like he was asking her on a…

Jo mentally rolled her eyes. Yea right.

"I guess that could be cool," Jo murmured with a careless shrug of her shoulders. She didn't want to be too excited about what she knew was not a date. Why would her own cousin be asking her out on a date? Why would she even say yes? "It'll give me the opportunity to shred circles around you." she gave a classic Hayden smirk.

"Hey, you may have been better at skating for the last three years, but I have been practicing." he argued. Jo gave him a knowing look. "Okay whatever, you're still probably better, but when it comes time to surf, we'll see who's better."

"Challenge accepted, Alvarez." she offered her hand to him and as soon as he moved to take it so they could shake, she quickly pulled it away and stuck her tongue out at him. In retaliation, he flicked her on the nose.

* * *

_Ugh, I love May and Drew as a married couple. I love writing them like that. I mean it is a million times more fun to make them snap at each other, but I really love having them being all sweet and weird with one another like a married couple in love should be. It makes me want to get married…like yesterday. Curse my hopeless romanticism. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There was a little hint of developments in terms of relationships to look out for so I jope you're all looking forward to that like I am. I'll update again after I get the first official chapter of 'Now' up which will probably take me five days…Look out for that and thanks for reading._

_Feedback would make me smile._

_~Rolyn~_


	5. Connections

_I was a little too excited to get this next chapter started. I just banged out three dozen cookies just so I could settle down with my computer and do what I do best (or what I'd like to think I do best). So here I am with my music, one of my reject cookies stuffed in my mouth, Sabrina the Teenage Witch playing in the background. Could life get any better? Well it could if I was married…yup, I'm going through that young adult crisis where all I want is to be married to a nice Christian guy and have kids and just ultimately not feel so unsure of what the future holds. I'm sure I'll get over it…or not. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter._

_~Rolyn~_

* * *

_Chapter Five: Connections_

* * *

Xander was on a mission. He had been concocting this plan since the night before when he and Jo snuck into the kitchen for midnight ice cream and she divulged the information that she would be prancing off with Cal early in the morning. His initial idea was simple enough; he'd pretend to be unaware of Jo's plans, saunter his way down to Mickey's room where all the girls were staying and make the first step towards getting the youngest Alvarez to fall for him. There wasn't that many steps to that end result though.

Misha had questioned where he was off to when he wandered out of Cal's room. All the boys were put up there granted it didn't have as much space as Mickey's room. Tevin explained that girls needed more room…to be girls. When Misha had asked where he was rushing off to, Xander came up with the quick answer that he liked to go out early and train his Pokémon. Tevin had given him a narrowed eyed look because he knew that Xander didn't do anything early.

Tevin was his friend. He wouldn't rat out his true motives, at least he hoped not. He didn't know that Misha guy very well, but by the look in his eyes and hostility in his smile, he was sure the shorter guy would punch him in the face if he so much as got a centimeter out of line. Not letting that deter him, Xander paused in front of the double door that had a white board hanging from it. Scrawled across the white board in pink erase marker was 'The Girls' Room'. Xander rolled his eyes knowing that was the work of one of the twins…or both. They did work in tandem.

He knocked on the door twice and in response there was shuffling from the other side before the door cracked open. Xander didn't hide his disappointment when one of the terrible twins gave him an onceover and snorted in disgust. "What do you want, Silvertongue?" Corinne or Crista asked. He didn't care to put in the effort to figure out which girl she was.

"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? You look a little more…annoying than usual." Xander retorted with a sarcastic smile. The violet eyed girl scoffed and moved to slam the door in his face, but Xander quickly shot his hand out to stop her.

"Crista, who are you trying to keep out?" the door was opened a bit wider and Mickey blinked wide brown eyes up at Xander. The eighteen year old smiled lopsidedly and suddenly Mickey wished she hadn't entertained the idea of staying in her pajamas until absolutely necessary. There was nothing becoming about the oversized Arceus University t-shirt and flannel shorts she had on. "Oh, hey Xander…w-what are you doing here?"

"Leaving." Crista grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

Mickey pursed her lips at the younger twin. In the spur of the moment, she put everything the twins and Jo had told her the day before on the backburner and indulged in the idea of sending Crista off. "Cris, Corinne sent me to get you. She needs help curling her hair."

Oh," Crista gasped. Mickey could almost smirk as the purple haired girl took the bait. "I need to curl my hair too!" With that, Crista scrambled away, calling for her sister and telling her to wait for her.

Mickey smiled awkwardly as she stepped out into the hallway and pulled her door shut behind her. "I take it Crista isn't really a fan of yours?" Mickey mentally rolled her eyes at her own words. Neither of the Miller girls were fans of his and they made that more than clear yesterday. She sounded absolutely ridiculous to herself.

"I'm not really seeking her approval. I'm not here for her anyways." Xander said smoothly with a shrug of his shoulders. Mickey laughed once behind closed lips while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then who are you here for?" Mickey inquired with an arched brow.

Xander almost said 'You', but deciding he needed to be a little more subtle with this one, he put on his most innocent, charming smile and went along with the plan he had been contemplating since last night. "I'm looking for Jo; since I don't really know anybody here and I'm not familiar with the area, she promised to take me on a tour of the island's best spots."

"Oh…" Mickey breathed. "Well, Jo left earlier with my brother I think. She probably forgot."

Xander feigned disappointment. "Oh well…" he sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "I guess I'll have to wait until next time." he drawled as he turned to leave. He took it slow, counting down from three and just as he reached one…

"Wait," Mickey said quickly. Xander smirked for a split second before whipping back around to face the brown eyed girl who was chewing nervously on her bottom lip. "If you want to…I could show you around. I mean, it is my grandmother's island. I just need a little time to wash up and get dressed." she laughed nervously.

Xander smiled at her lopsidedly. "That sounds perfect…" he mused with a nod. "I'll meet you at the front door in half an hour?" he took her chin between his index finger and thumb as he spoke the relished in the nervous way she swallowed when he leaned in a little closer.

"A-Actually can you meet me in the garage?" Mickey stammered with a sheepish smile. Xander perked a brow at her, silently questioning why she wanted to meet there, but he knew it hardly mattered. If she kept smiling at him in that coy way, he'd meet her at the top of an active volcano if she asked.

"Sure, but only because you asked so nicely." he chuckled. Mickey blushed forty different shade of red as he released her chin, pinched her nose lightly and went on his way. "Half hour!" he called back at her. All Mickey could do was nod.

As soon as Xander rounded the corner probably to go back to the guys' room, Mickey leaned against the wall by her door and sighed deeply.

"Ah, I know that sigh…"

Mickey immediately perked up. Patou smirked at her niece who was now fidgeting with an anxious smile on her face. "Hey, Auntie P…w-what's up?"

"Nothing really. I was just on my way to find my son, but I feel like I've stumbled upon something far more interesting." the golden haired mother of one responded as she stopped in front of her niece with her arms crossed over her chest. "So, who's the guy that's making you do the dreaded head-over-heels sigh?"

"Guy? Head over heels?" Mickey laughed incredulously. "There's never been a guy and there never will be one. The only guys I need in my life are my family, right?"

Patou shrugged. "If you wanna play it safe, sure." she sighed wile cocking her head to one side. "But if I know you, like I think I do, I know you don't like to play it safe. Just…be careful, okay?"

Mickey hummed in agreement.

* * *

"Oh it's good to be queen." Jo sang as she rollerbladed circles around Cal. The aforementioned young man was seated on one of the benches that lined the boardwalk, ripping off the death traps people called rollerblades. No matter how hard he practiced, he'd never be able to keep up with the blonde. If he had it his way, he would have never entertained the idea of rollerblading. He only offered because he knew Jo loved to do it. "Giving up so soon, dork?"

"We've been blading for hours. If I go any longer I'll have blisters the size of an Onyx." he complained as he pulled his converses out of the backpack he had been toting with their belongings in it.

Jo leaned against the back of the bench, smirking over his shoulder as she watched him put his shoes on. "You're such a girl." she chuckled.

Cal smiled at her over his shoulder. "Oh, and what does that make you?" he inquired before bending over to tie his shoelace.

"Awesome incarnate, duh." she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Calum laughed openly at that one. He almost forgot how amazing it was to actually be with Jo in comparison to just communicating through video calls. There wasn't much that could compare to spending time with her in person, even if she was teasing him.

"Of course, how could I forget?" he said sarcastically as he forced his rollerblades into his backpack and forced it to zip shut. Jo watched him stand to his feet and stretch. "Much better," he mused. "What do you wanna do now?"

"I dunno…" Jo murmured.

"Well, we left so early we didn't grab breakfast." Cal stated. "Why don't we head over to Layla's for some food? If I put on just the right pouty face, she might give us fries despite is being nine in the morning." he smiled lopsidedly and Jo made a noise between a scoff and a laugh.

"Fries for breakfast?" Jo questioned. Cal shrugged. "I'm in. Race ya there."

"Two things," Cal said quickly before she could take off. "Do you even remember where Layla's is? And how do you expect me to win a race in sneakers when you're on rollerblades?" he gestured to the blades on the girl's feet and Jo huffed.

"Two things," Jo mimicked. "We've been going to Layla's since we were kids. I could never forget my favorite boardwalk food shack and I don't expect you to win." she smirked at the insulted look on his face. "See ya, dork!" she spun around in her skates and took off down the boardwalk, leaving Cal to stare after her with a blank face.

Rolling his eyes, Cal hoisted his backpack on his shoulder and started to follow the blonde, but at a leisurely pace. If he knew he wasn't going to win, he might as well take his time and not tire himself out. Yards ahead of him, Jo swerved to stop before an open boardwalk shack. The floor of Layla's was lightly packed sand with ornate seashells scattered around the bamboo tables and chairs. Towards the back was the open kitchen along with a bamboo bar which was being wiped down by a woman with deep chocolate skin and a head full long thin blonde braids.

Jo treaded the sand in her rollerblades, knocking into a chair on her way towards the bar. The dark skinned woman looked up with bright blue eyes and grinned. "Suicune take me now! If it isn't JoJo!" the woman spoke with a deep islander accent. Not many people still had such an accent on any of the Serenity Islands.

Jo grinned. "Hey, Layla," she greeted with a wave. "Long time no see."

"I'll say," the woman laughed as she hoisted herself over the bar instead of going around. She grabbed the smaller blonde in a hug and Jo laughed nervously as she was smothered. Layla was a little bustier than the average woman. "I always look forward to summer time cuz that means I get to see one of my favorite customers. You here with Mick?" Layla asked as she pulled away from Jo.

"Nah," Jo shook her head, her blonde ponytail whipping back and forth. "I'm here with Cal. We went out for an early morning rollerblading session."

"Ah, where is the little sprout? He hasn't visited me in a while. I think I need to slap him around a bit to remind him not to neglect me." Layla laughed boisterously. Jo chuckled.

"He's on his way." Jo said. "I kind of left him in the dust."

Layla nodded in understanding with a wry smile. "I'm guessin' the two of you aren't popping by just to say hi. Ya'll hungry?" she asked as she backpedaled towards the bar counter. Jo watched her hoist herself back over, snatching up the rag she had been wiping the counter down with as she went.

"Starving…" Jo groaned. "We didn't eat before we left the house." she complained.

"I ain't officially open and you know I don't do breakfast, but since it's you, I might be able to rustle up some fries and tenders for ya. How does that sound?" Layla leaned against the counter and Jo smiled gratefully at her.

"Thanks Layla, you are perfection." Jo breathed as she climbed up onto one of the vinyl bar stools. When Cal finally did show up with his backpack that was holding her flip flops hostage, she'd change out of her rollerblades.

"And don you forget it." Layla winked at her before going right to work.

It was about seven minutes of awkward silence between Layla and Jo as the older woman fired up her deep fryer later that Cal finally strolled in looking like he didn't have a care in the world. Jo arched a brow as he sauntered up to her, flashed her a toothy smile, and hoisted himself up onto the stool beside her. Jo stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Took you long enough, dork." she commented.

"I may or may not have stopped for a smoothie on the way here." Cal retorted, his wide smile not faltering. Jo narrowed her eyes at him, but smiled despite herself. She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Ah, look who finally decided to show his face!" Layla said loudly. Cal cringed and Jo smirked at his discomfort. "I am offended that now you decide to show your face, sprout!" Layla took Cal by the collar and pulled him over the counter to smother him just like she had Jo, albeit with a little more force. Cal gagged and Jo laughed openly.

"Sorry Layla…school had my visits to the boardwalk limited, ya know?" Cal explained. Layla pulled away and slapped him upside the head. Cal yelped and – he would never admit to doing this later – jutted his bottom lip out in a pout. Jo slapped a hand over her mouth and lowered her head to stifle her cackles. The eighteen year old looked away as a blush crept up the back of his neck and spilled over onto his cheeks.

"Ya lucky I love you and I promised your daddy I wouldn't give you the spankings we all know you deserve." Layla grumbled as she turned back towards her fryers which were now popping. "I'm making you something to eat. I'll just put it on your tab."

"Thanks Layla…" Cal breathed. The blonde woman merely hummed in recognition of his gratitude. Once he was sure Layla had her undivided attention back on the food she was preparing, Cal turned towards Jo who wasn't laughing openly anymore, but her blue eyes still danced with mirth at his expense. "You are so mean…"

"You love me regardless…" Jo sang at him.

Even jokingly, he couldn't deny that. "True…"

* * *

Xander couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten himself into this situation. He really wasn't expecting this…at all. He could hear her laughing excitedly as she flew past him, pushing herself further down the road while he kept himself at a leisurely, safer pace. It wasn't that he was bad at skateboarding; he just didn't indulge in the riskier side of the sport, not like this girl.

He had to admit, he was a little surprised when Mickey had thrust a skateboard into his arms and instructed him to follow her when he met her in the garage. He was mainly surprised because he was distracted by how absolutely alluring she looked in those leggings and that tank top. How could anyone think straight with her looking like she did? He had seen pretty girls before, he's dated pretty girls before, he's hooked up with pretty girls before, he hung out with the prettiest girl in LaRousse – maybe even all of Hoenn – on a regular basis, but there was something about the way she made looking pretty seem so easy and absolutely flawless that brought about this new determination in him.

He didn't care if he was risking having Misha murder him in his sleep. He wasn't about to let this girl pass him up.

She had taken him first to the Milotic beaches on the public end of Amy Island. The waters were crystal clear and Mickey had explained they were prime for surfing and that they'd go soon. When Xander divulged to her that he didn't know how to surf, Mickey had promised to teach him – only if he wanted her to, of course. He immediately agreed. She then took him to the boardwalk, pointing out the best places to hang out and eat. Xander had been tense the entire time, praying to God they didn't run into Jo and Cal. Luckily they didn't.

They boarded down Jocelyn Boulevard which had been twenty years in the making and was recently finished. Mickey explained how it was named after her biological Aunt and that it had all her favorite shops, including her mother and Aunt Pat's boutiques. She also pointed out a modern building called Sableye and explained that was the twenty and under club her Aunt Jocelyn owned and that they should plan to go since Mickey had only been once and it wasn't that fun since she was with her brother and her God-brother. She told him they had awesome karaoke nights and also explained she wanted to be a singer and wrote her own music. Xander made her promise that she'd sing on for him sooner or later.

When it got around noon, Mickey finally offered for them to go because the last place she wanted to show him was back at home. That was what brought them to flying down a hill…well Mickey was flying, Xander was trying not to get himself killed. She skidded to a stop at the end of the wrap around driveway to their summer home and Xander did the same.

"You're pretty good…" he mused as he watched her kick her board up. Mickey smiled at him.

"Yea, well I guess I couldn't hide my tomboyish tendencies for that long. When your only female friends live regions away and you're stuck hanging out with your brother and his friends all the time, you pick up a few things." she explained as she gestured for him to follow her up the driveway and back towards the garage.

"Why don't you have any friends of your own here?" Xander found himself asking. He didn't mean to actually ask.

"Well," Mickey sighed. "The girls at school don't really like me and the guys…" she trailed off with a shake of her head. "You can say I have a similar situation to Jo." she murmured as she pressed in a code to open the garage.

Xander watched her for a moment. He knew the reason Jo didn't have any friends that were boys (besides him, of course), was because boys had a tendency of using her. This was also why the platinum blonde refused to date. If Mickey was suffering from the same situation then that would make what he was trying to do with her ten times worse…but it wasn't like was really trying to _use_ her. He wanted to have fun this summer…with her. Summer would end eventually and everything else that transpired would end too.

"C'mon," she said taking the skateboard she had let him borrow from his hands. She remounted it on the wall along with the others and took his hand. "There is still one more thing I want to show you."

Mickey opened the door to the garage that led into the house slowly and looked up and down the basement hall before tiptoeing in and pulling Xander along. He allowed this, quietly admiring her childlike enthusiasm. He's never been with a girl this offhand before. It was definitely a switch up from what he was used to.

She led him down another flight of stairs, deeper into the basement. It was dark with no windows whatsoever. She stopped and he almost ran into her. "Ready?"

"For what?" he laughed.

The lights flickered on and Xander's brow crunched together as he took in his surroundings. The room was massive with glittering floors and random scattered furniture. In a corner there was even a swing bubble chair, but what really caught his attention were the massive pictures mounted on the walls. There were more pictures all over the walls but these monstrosities really grabbed your attention. The pictures depicted gorgeous girls all caught in different states of playfulness and amusement. He recognized one almost immediately.

"Is that Mrs. Hayden…?" he asked as he approached the picture of a grinning brunette who was seated on a merry-go-round, dressed casually. Mrs. Hayden looked so young in the picture. She looked around his age.

He turned to the next picture, recognizing the navy hair and the cerulean eyes. "Aunt Dawn," Mickey said. "And that's Aunt Alex," she pointed to the next picture that had a young Alex with choppy hair and a cheeky smile on her face. Xander actually choked on a laughed wondering how the twins would react to such an image of their mother.

"Who's this?" Xander pointed to a gorgeous golden haired girl with her head thrown back as she smiled brightly. The picture was a side profile.

"That's my Aunt Patou; Misha's mom." Mickey said. Xander nodded in approval. Mickey nudged him down the line of photos, stopping in front of the gorgeous visage of a blue haired beauty. "That's Aunt Marina. I think that's the only picture where she doesn't have her model face on." Mickey laughed lightly. Xander hummed in agreement as he approached the final picture.

"Oh wow…" he breathed as he took in the intense eyes and the playful smirk of the young woman in this picture.

Mickey's smile softened. "That's my mom…" she breathed.

"You look just like her." Xander murmured. Mickey nodded.

"I get that a lot…"

Xander looked from Mickey to the picture, noticing a glimmering small plaque on the bottom of the frame. He crouched down to get a better look and perked a brow. "The Princess?" He questioned out loud.

"Oh!" Mickey said crouching down next to him. "Let me explain; this room…well my mom calls it her memory room. Sometimes she comes down here when she and my dad get into a fight or if she's stressed or needs inspiration. See, back when she was my age, she along with Aunt Dawn, May, Marina, Alex and Patou were in this group called the Dragonite girls which were opposite to the Flygon boys which consisted of my dad and Uncle Drew, Jimmy, Ian, Aden and Paul. Later on down the line when they all started dating, they converged into this one group called the Untouchables…but the grouping of the Dragonite Girls never disappeared and neither did the Flygon boys."

Xander nodded, having remembered his mother explained at least the Untouchable part since he was taking part of the Untouchable reunion.

"Each girl had a role and a nickname in the Dragonite Girls," Mickey continued. "My mom was the leader so they called her the Princess. Aunt Alex was the brawns so they called her the Guard Dog," Xander snorted at that one. "Aunt Marina was the brains so they called her Brainy. Aunt Dawn was Black ops; they called her Pinky."

"Pinky?" Xander chuckled.

"I know…" Mickey sighed "I think it has to do with her obsession with pink." she added sardonically.

"I would think so." Xander agreed.

"Aunt Patou was the voice of reason and they called her Goldilocks because of her hair and finally they had May…she didn't have an obvious role, but my Mom said she kept them together and grounded – kept them sane. That's why they called her the Untouchable Puzzle Piece." Mickey finished.

"Kind of a mouthful, if you ask me…I wonder why Jo doesn't mention this." Xander mused.

"Our parents don't talk about it much." Mickey admitted. "They have this summer reunion in an attempt to never forget…but they don't really bring up the Dragonite Girls or the Flygon boys much." she sighed. "Jo doesn't like to bring it up either. She and I are the only ones, besides my mom, that know about this room. When we were kids, we sometimes wished we could have what they did; to be close to one another and be known for that closeness…have a rivalry with a couple of guys…It sound stupid now that I think about it." she laughed in a bittersweet way.

"It's not stupid," Xander said lowly. "I mean, your parents did it."

"Yea, but it's stupid to wish for something that'll never happen." Mickey murmured. "Sometimes I still feel like it's possible…to make bonds like that, have a connection like that…fall in love like that." she trailed off wistfully.

Xander mentally cursed.

By the time they left to join everyone else for lunch and get ready for the Summer Festival that was to take place on the boardwalk that night, Xander had realized that this was the first time he was alone with a girl for an extended period of time that didn't end with him making out with them. He found that he was kind of okay with his, just because it was Mickey.

* * *

_Whoo! Done! I had fun with this chapter I like having the kids interact and establish or at least stir up feelings with one another. I especially had fun towards the end there, looking back to the previous ML's and showing how this story will unfold. Anyone remember those pictures that I described? I went on my Facebook page just to stare at them and cry over the feels they gave me. Anyways, next chapter, I intend to look more into Corinne since I've been hinting towards everyone's possible relationships, besides hers! Honestly, I think hers will be a favorite because it will be very reminiscent of a relationship we all love and adore. Thank you all for reading. I hoped you liked this chapter. If so…_

_Feedback would be much appreciated._

_~Rolyn~_


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